Page 91 of Knot That Serious

Eli waved her hand at the tray. “Okay, what’s what?”

He pointed out the different cheeses, explaining which ones probably went best with what. She tried bits of everything he recommended, and he enjoyed trying to piece together if she like it or not before she spoke.

It was easy, because Eli was so expressive.

Her nose scrunched when she didn’t like something, and her eyes lit up when she did.

She liked pairing the apples with different cheeses, and she really loved the orange jam with crackers and different cheeses, too.

The sweet stuff.

They talked and laughed, and he learned so much about her, and he shared bits of himself, too.

“So, if you designed this years ago, where were you, if you just moved into the Elowen Buildings?”

“I used to live not far from here, because the job took so long—I figured, why not? But in the past year the landlord hiked the rent twice, and I knew he had plans to do so again. My lease was up, so I got out while I could instead of renewing.”

Eli winced. “That’s awful. We finally bought the bakery from the owners a few years ago after renting it for so long, but we were lucky to have a very lovely landlord.”

“I’m glad to hear that. So far Elowen seems to be good people.”

“They are! We’ve had no issues,” she said with a wink. “I think you’ll even like it there.”

“I’m sure I will,” he agreed with a warm smile. Eli leaned into him and Raj took a deep breath, letting her chocolate-covered cherry richness sink in.

They talked even more, sharing childhood stories…

“And Jack—oh, Jack was terrified, refused to come down from the treehouse, and—” She laughed, head tilted back, lips parted as she brushed wetness from her eyes. “—I just knew his dads were going to be pissed, so I climbed up there with him. And then I was scared.” Her laughter subsided a bit, a wistful smile painting her mouth. “He saw how afraid I was and suddenly thought he could do anything. He got us down and no one was ever the wiser.”

Jack’s an idiot. How could that alpha not see how much Eli cared about him?

“That’s just about the sweetest story I’ve ever heard,” he admitted. “You and Jack are good together.”

He almost hated to admit it. But the alpha clearly filled a piece of Eli that she’d be lost without. And Jack was dense if he truly didn’t feel the same way.

Then again, that’s what this was all about, wasn’t it? Making him think he might lose her to another alpha, and hopefully unearth those buried feelings.

They mixed more of the abomination wine cocktail and Eli glowed beneath the lights.

“So, you’re pretty good at this courting thing. Have you done it a lot?” she asked.

“Smooth,” he teased, and nudged his elbow into her. She nudged him back and then she was leaning against him, cheek pressed into his arm, and her warmth was very real. “I was part of a pack, at one point. When I first graduated, I moved in with a few other guys from school. It was alright, and we even courted an omega, but the longer we all stayed together, the more forced it felt. After school, there wasn’t that much holding us together. We drifted apart and eventually I got this job offer. Decided a fresh slate was for the best.”

“Wow, no tragic fallout?”

Raj shook his head. “Nope, we were all feeling it. I think we were scared to talk about it. But if we’d just been honest with each other, we wouldn’t have wasted those last few years.”

Eli hummed. “Alright, alright, I get it.”

Raj chuckled. “You asked.”

“No omegas since?”

With a shrug, Raj answered, “I want it to happen organically. The Omega Center is there, of course, but it’s so expensive to enroll in their scent card program, and I don’t have a pack anyway.”

Neither of them said it, but he hoped they were both thinking it: Nothing was more organic than literally running into each other on the street, as well as living in the same building. He wondered if the fates were up there laughing at them.

They broke out the dessert finally, and Eli moaned around almost every bite.

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